Hero or terrorist? A ruler unveiled

The Roman Republic was a contentious place with enemies from all points of the compass. We know the players: Hannibal, Spartacus, Cleopatra, Cicero, Mark Anthony and Julius Caesar.

Stanford University professor Adrienne Mayor wades through the myth and fragmented history to add someone to the pantheon: Mithradates VI, king of Pontus on the Black Sea in what is now northeastern Turkey.

The land, called Anatolia by the Greeks and Asia by the Romans, lies between Greece and Persia along the shores of the Black Sea. Many call it the birthplace of Western civilization. The rich trading kingdoms in the area were plums to be picked by the invading armies of empire builders from all points: Darius and Xerxes of Persia, Philip and Alexander of Macedonia, the marauding Greeks, and then the legions of Rome.

Roman historians saw Mithradates as a terrorist who plotted and perpetrated the massacre of tens of thousands of Roman citizens who resided in Anatolia and as a leader of pirates and barbarians who successfully carried on a war against the "civilizing" forces of Rome for more than 40 years until he was eventually vanquished by the legions of Pompey.

Others saw him as a god, a savior and liberator who attempted to keep the evil empire at bay and freed the slaves who kept the wheels of the empire turning. Whatever, he came closer than any to bringing the Romans to their knees.

Mithradates, who "traced his father's bloodline to Persian kings and his mother's family to Alexander the Great," saw himself as the natural heir to both Darius and Alexander and "another Hannibal," a leader whose destiny was to return his homeland to its former greatness.

He assumed the throne of the small kingdom of Pontus as a young man after his father was poisoned by his mother. Fearing that he was also a target, he embarked on a lifelong study of the pharmacology of poisons, experimenting on others, as well as himself. Because of this, it was said he had built up an immunity that enabled him to survive many attempts on his life by this method.

Mithradates began his empire by expanding into neighboring kingdoms and forming alliances the old- fashioned way: His daughter was married to Tigranes, the ruler of Armenia. He was perceived as a threat by the Romans, and they began the first Mithradatic War by striking "without provocation" through their ally Nicomedes of Bithynia, a neighboring Black Sea kingdom. This unleashed the lion as Mithradates' armies swept through Anatolia liberating and assimilating the Roman fiefdoms. "In less than a year he had gone from a minor king of a rich little realm on the Black Sea to one of the most powerful rulers in the ancient world," Mayor writes.

Flush with success, he ordered the ethnic cleansing of Italians and Romans from the conquered lands and sent his armies across Thrace and Macedonia into Greece, threatening Rome, where, because of the economic calamity partly brought on because of the loss of so many wealthy lands, civil war was raging.

But the tide soon turned, as Roman General Lucius Cornelius Sulla led a small, but battle-hardened, army to sack and pillage Athens and soon after defeated Mithradates' larger army. Afterward, they agreed that the king would retain the lands he had before the war and Sulla would return to Rome to finish the fight there.

Peace was short-lived as the legions left behind by Sulla soon invaded Mithradates' homelands, igniting the short second Mithradatic War. The king's forces quickly defeated the Romans, solidifying his hold over these lands.

Neighboring Bithynia again played a major role in the perennial conflict: The puppet king died and willed the country to Rome. Mithradates couldn't abide by this, so he invaded, igniting the longest - and final - war with Rome. After seesaw fighting over many years (even though he was now in his 60s, the king personally led his army into many of the battles), the Roman juggernaut, under the command of the aristocrat Lucullus, was not to be denied. To avoid capture after one desperate battle, Mithradates sent a loyal soldier to kill the members of the royal harem while he assumed common garb and escaped on foot.

Although the Romans were winning, guerrilla tactics and even biochemical warfare (highly combustible naphtha skimmed from petroleum lakes in the deserts of northern Iraq, poisoned arrows and poisoned honey) were decimating the troops, As the war dragged on, the senate was becoming disenchanted with Lucullus. They sent Pompey the Great, who had gained favor by defeating the Mediterranean pirates, to replace him. Pompey's fresh legions delivered a crushing blow to Mithradates' replenished army with a surprise nighttime attack.

The king again escaped capture and daringly fled across the wild Caucasus Mountains to join with his son Pharaces in his Kingdom of the Bosporus on the northern shore of the Black Sea. According to Mayor, the war and his age were taking their tolls on Mithradates. In a fit of rage, he killed one of his sons for having conspired.

Mithradates thought he had three choices: Sue for peace, surrender or attack. Pompey rejected the first, Mithradates the second, so his only recourse was to attack, Mayor writes. Bold as ever, he decided to invade the Italian mainland by taking an overland route. Whether this was viable, it raised resentment from all concerned, especially Pharaces, who rebelled and convinced the army and citizens to name him king.

From various accounts and legends, Mayor pieces together what happened next. Hearing the crowd proclaiming Pharnaces king, Mithradates retreated to the highest tower with two of his unmarried daughters. There, to avoid being turned over to Pompey, he was determined to commit suicide. A potion was prepared, and he gave half to his daughters, then he drank the rest. Because of the tolerance to poison that he had built throughout his lifetime, the commonly accepted story goes, this was not enough to kill him and he had to ask a faithful bodyguard to finish the job by stabbing him to death. Mayor discounts this version, stating logic dictates that the knowledgeable king knew he didn't have enough and sacrificed himself to a painful death in order to spare his daughters.

Even in death, Mayor writes, Mithradates continued to confound the Romans. When they were finally able to acquire his body months later, it was unrecognizable, denying them the satisfaction of truly knowing that their toughest adversary was dead and keeping them from denigrating the legend of a mythic hero who continued to seek revenge on Rome.

Through her copious research, Mayor attempts to answer solve another mystery of the period: What happened to Mithradates' faithful Amazon companion, Hypsicratea? Although lost in the histories after the last major battle, Mayor states recent archaeological discoveries prove she survived and accompanied the king on his final adventure. "[An] inscription tells us that Hypsicratea was commemorated as Mithradates' queen in the Bosporan Kingdom."

Mayor has done an extraordinary job of filling many gaps in the history of this contentious and foggy period. Rightly so, "The Poison King" was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Award and is an effort worthy of any student of history.

Lee Scott lives in Avondale.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Advertising

Stay Connected

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Florida Times-Union ~ 1 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32202 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service